Anthony "Tony" B. Sandoval (born May 19, 1954) was a world class marathon runner, most noted for winning the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, in the year the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Sandoval's 2:10:19 performance in Buffalo, New York on May 24, 1980 was a US Olympic Trials record.
In his first attempt to make the Olympic team "Sandoval took a crack at the '76 Olympic Marathon Trial. He'd run a 2:19 debut in Phoenix the previous December. In the trial, held in Eugene, Oregon, Sandoval ran well but it was his first near-miss: fourth-place [with the top three making the team] in 2:14:58."
In the late 1970s Sandoval worked towards becoming a medical doctor and competed in marathons on unusually light training. Following the 1976 trials he trained by running 35 miles per week and ran "a 2:14:37 for second place at the Nike-Oregon Track Club Marathon in Eugene in 1978. After that, he ran 2:15:23 for 15th place in the Boston Marathon in 1979."
Later in 1979 "In one of running's most heralded ties, Sandoval came across the finish holding hands with Jeff Wells in 2:10:20. 'We were running together,' says Sandoval, 'At the finish, I just put my arm out and Jeff put his arm out. No words were spoken.'"